Tale of Dust
by Seiteioshi
Summary: A story where Adam gets saved from death in Volume 6. Drug abuse, mental illness and a lot of swearing.
1. Adam Taurus

**Chapter 1**

Adam Taurus

It was cold and dark. Adam couldn't decide it was more cold or more dark. He tried very, very hard not to think about how much he was bleeding. His clothes vere soaked in red and he himself was drowning in freezing water.

Yup, that was no doubt the last moment of Adam Taurus' consciousness.

But to his very surprise, he didn't die. In fact, he was totally fine, apart of ripped clothes, wetness everywhere and his awfully hurt pride. To be honest, his pride was so bruised he didn't notice something that was headed straight at him.

„What the..." - Adam murmured, realizing it was a towel. A dry towel.

„Dry up. Don't mind the blood; I made most of it disappear. I hate blood."

Judging by the voice, the person disapproving of basic human fluid was a girl. A young woman, Adam thought.

 _BLAKE_

„I really don't like to repeat myself, too." - the girl said and Adam snapped out of his thoughts for a second.

The first thing she noticed about her were the young lady's eyes. The right eye was dark blue, almost navy. The second had bright, red color to it. She was standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

And she had his weapon.

„Give it back to me." - demanded Adam.

„No way in hell."

She was stubborn, no doubt.

„Give it back or I'll kill you."

The girl dropped his weapon and set her foot on it. She leaned to him and suddenly her pupils disappeared.

„Drop this tone or I'll alter your mind to the worst things that has ever happened to you."- she replied with no real change in her voice.

„Hand my Wilt and Blush to me, please."

„You won't be seeing your weapon in a very, very long time."

Now he noticed a bloodred flower in her dark-pink, short hair. She sat along him and raised her pale hand to touch his face. He catched it midair and forced the lady to the ground.

And suddenly he screamed. An arrow of pain pierced through his mind. Not of physical pain. More like…

„ _Altering._ This is my semblance. „ - the girl said - „I can make you think of everything I wish. I'm not sure you get the grip of your current situation."

The pain stopped and she tilted her head slightly to the left, blinked and her pupils appeared again.

„I'm all ears." - said Adam, trembling a little.

 _Schnee Dust Company_

The girl frowned and blinked again. At once, Adam felt something strange inside his brain, but this time it was pleasant.

„Stop messing with my mind." he said rubbing his forehead „Who are you?"

The girl placed herself on the ground next to him.

„My name is Ceres."

„Why are you helping me?"

He _needed_ information.

„I am not helping you." - Ceres corrected him, scratching behind her one short braid that was not very matching to her looking - „I am helping myself."

Adam calculated his chances of getting Wilt and Bush back and decided not to. The pain that human caused in his delicate brain was too much even for him. For Adam fucking Taurus.

 _Ugh._

„Congratulations, you abusive asshole, you just won one way ticket to your personal hell." - she smiled cheerfully - „Make yourself comfortable. And for gods' sake, dry yourself up."

„I'm afraid I can't help you, girl. I have my own business to attend." - Adam stood up.

„I told you my name was Ceres." - the girl's tone was cold - „And I'm afraid you're not going anywhere. I just patched you up, you ungrateful..."

„I appreciate the effort. But I'm not staying. I need to..."

„You need to sit down and listen to me!" - Ceres raised her voice a little - „Besides, you have nowhere to go. The kids are sure you're dead so it's better to not show them otherwise. And you...you let them to beat you up so _spectacularly."_

Adam tighten his lips.

„Are you with Cinder Fall?" he asked and before he managed to get an answer she stood up quickly and bit her lower lip.

„The Grimm!"

Adam tried to stand up too but Ceres stopped him.

„They are heading towards the city." she said „I guess your friends are fighting them."

„How do you know that?"

She smiled a little.

„I have some tricks hidden up my sleeves. Let's go."


	2. Ceres

**Chapter 2**

Ceres

„I cannot believe you brought him here."

„You better be damn sure I did." - Ceres replied and let herself stretch out on the bed. Her dark pink hair had spilled on the pillow. - „We need someplace to crash tonight."

„But why it has to be _my_ place?" - groaned the woman in the armchair - „Of all places..."

„If we hide, maybe we can make it thorugh this." - Ceres said in her serious tone - „I need to take Adam the hell out of Mistral."

„But Ceres, this man is..."

„I goddamn know who he is!" - she exclaimed and clenched her fists. Ceres released her tension in a quiet sigh and procedeed to form short white lines of powder on the mirror laying on the cofee table.

„Stop doing this in front of me." - said the woman with utter disgust, as he watched Ceres snorting one of the lines.

„Is it this sickening?" - the girl asked - „Is it?"

„You damn know it is." - the woman growled - „You should go to rehab. Start a normal life. Get a grip of the things you could achieve if you were sober."

„Tried the sobriety thing. 2/10, wouldn't recommend." - Ceres snorted the next line – „My mind is killing me when I'm sober."

The woman obviously wanted to reply, but her voice went quiet when she noticed how Ceres' pupils started to disappear and reappear rapidly.

„He's broken and so am I." - the girl whispered as her cheeks were starting to blush - „We would make a perfect duet."

* * *

Adam dreamed of nothingness. He hadn't had any dreams since he met Ceres.

 _It's been ten days already._

Judging by bags under the girl's eyes she didn't sleep well. In fact, she was holding a cup of coffee and staring blindly into the wall of hotel room.

She dyed Adam's hair black, gave him a new set of clothes, including a red cap and a new blindfold. And he couldn't stop analyzing what has really happened in the forest. He was fighting Blake…

 _BLAKE_

An arrow of pain pierced through his mind again.

„Adam, you're dead to her. In fact, you're dead to pretty much everyone." - Ceres said, blinking.

„I still don't understand why you saved me. And how do you know when…"

„When you're thinking of Blake Belladonna?" - the girl ended his question and sighed, sipping her cofee - „I don't. I just sense the pain she causes to your mind."

Ceres set the cup down the table and stretched herself out. Her eyes were bloodshot.

„I'm going to nap a bit."

* * *

He couldn't leave without his precious weapon and that pink-haired mind-messing girl had it hidden in a place Adam wasn't able to find. And he was so, so angry about it.

„We're leaving."- the girl said the next morning. Adam realised why they were heading to the Vacuo but he kept thinking about escaping and going to find B…

„Stop this already!" - Ceres yelled, clenching her fists. Adam noticed rapid changes in her eyes' appearance. That shit was scary.

Ceres sighed.

„The quicker you understand you by no means can go back to the life you had the easier this gets to you. You are a wanted criminal, and besides, you are supposed do be _dead,_ so get your shit together, act like a dead man and shut the hell up."

The girl yawned. Adam sat on a chair and focused his sight on the girl. She looked very tired. Her complexion was pale and he saw something that looked slightly blue on her fingertips.

She obviously had not slept in a few days.

„Why are you doing this?" - Adam asked, looking closer to her - „Why are you..."

„What?"

She seemed a bit anxious for a second.

„Why are you angry?"

She blinked and bit her lower lip. Adam already noticed she was doing this when she was uncomfortable with something.

„I'm not angry, Adam." she replied. Her left hand was shaking. It reminded him of Yang immidiately. -" Get your things."


	3. Midair

Chapter 3

Midair

The ship leaving town of Aria was not so small as Adam could have thought, but besided of him and Ceres there were no passengers.

„I made the pilot think we're his family." - said Ceres - „He won't make any problems."

Adam was silent. He watched Mistral becoming smaller and smaller. Ceres looked like she's about to fall asleep, but she hasn't.

„Why are you so afraid of sleeping in front of me?" - Adam asked suddenly. She laughed for a second.

„Because you're a psychopatic serial killer who was a leader of a terrorist organisation."

Adam chuckled.

„I still don't get why you did save me. I was basically dead."

„Would you prefer to be _actually_ dead?"

„I'm not sure."

He had nothing left. White Fang returned to the Belladonnas. Blake hated him and apparently she was in love with someone else. If he stayed, they would arrest him and he would spent the rest of his miserable life in prison, because he had nowhere to go to.

He was a crazy madman, but he understood that.

„I can alter your mind to more pleasant things, you know?" - Ceres asked in a quiet voice.

Adam chuckled again.

„Why wouldn't you alter your own mind? I can see, Ceres, you are barely sleeping. You frown most of the time. Your fingertips are blue and…"

„That's enough." - she interrupted him - „My physical state is none of your business."

„I can see." - said Adam again, watching her leaving to her room.

* * *

She popped a few pills and laid her head to the pillow. Her head was killing her. It was obvious for Ceres she needed to go to sleep. She was out of Dust and her next refill was waiting for her in Vacuo. She could handle her Dust cravings pretty well, but what was worrying her the most was the stash of her sleeping pills. In fact, there was no _stash_ left. The pills she popped a while ago were her last.

„I didn't think this through." Ceres whispered to herself as she was covering her shaking body in blanket. Adam's room was just behind the wall and she could hear him going to bed.

Ceres was happy she was leaving Mistral. The farther she was from Atlas the better. Moreover, the kids were heading in completely opposite direction and there was no risk of Blake and Adam meeting again.

Adam was not thinking of her lately. Ceres was aware of fact that he was thinking about escape but she was also sure he wouldn't leave without his precious weapon. And Ceres made sure the weapon was hidden.

She was lying on her bed and sweating, but the sleep just stubbornly didn't want to come. She wasn't sure what came into her life first: the insomnia or the Dust addiction, but now both of them were her faithful companions, with occasional spice of sleeping pills.

* * *

Adam got up from the bed the moment that sound touched his ears. He quickly realised there was no danger nearby, but he was sure he had heard a scream.

He left the room with a bad taste in his mouth. A second scream could be heard from behind door to Ceres' cabin.

He opened the door forcefully and he saw Ceres' body unnaturally twisted on the bed, and she herself was on edge of screaming again.

Adam rushed to the bed and catched her hands, forcing them to the bed. She was crying in her sleep.

„Run, RUN!" - Ceres screamed and tried to free her hands.

„Wake up, Ceres. Wake up!" - Adam said and seeing she was apparently not going to wake up, he shook her body firmly.

Ceres opened her eyes and for a brief moment her face was twisted with pure terror, but upon seeing Adam her face softened.

„I'm sorry." - Ceres murmured - „Had a bad dream."

She averted her eyes to him and Adam saw her rapidly disappearing and reappearing pupils. She frowned a bit and upon realizing she did this again, she immidiately looked away.

„Is it connected to your Altering?" he asked with curiosity - „The thing you do with your eyes?"

Ceres sighed, got out of bed and stretched.

„Altering is a semblance that I cannot control." - the girl admitted - „It's always _on._ And it makes people around me _crazy._ "

„Is that why you developed an addiction to Dust?"

„I'm _not_ addicted."

Adam chuckled.

„Look at yourself. Shivering even when it's hot. Blue fingertips. Runny nose you try to hide so _desperately._ Bloodshot eyes. I knew you were a drug addict the moment I saw you." - Adam said hoping she would break. But she didn't.

„If I wasn't intoxicating my body and mind with chemicals, you would be drooling yourself over by now." - Ceres said – „I took an example from Qrow Branwen. The thing is, I don't like alcohol that much."


	4. On the ground

Chapter 4

On the ground

The car Ceres stole in Miva, small town in Vacuo, was all blue and had a four-wheel drive.

„I'm not sure I want to be in a car that is driven by a drug addict with withdrawal symptoms." - said Adam.

„I'm not a drug addict with withdrawal symptoms. I'm a drug addict _without_ withdrawal symptoms." - Ceres replied, showing him a small bag filled with Dust.

„When did you..."

„The moment you were thinking about chopping off Raven girl's arm." - the girl sighed, stretched out - „I may be batshit crazy, but you're totally out of my league. Freaking sadist."

„I wish to mention it was Blake who left me."

„And you never considered it was your goddamn fault?"

Adam clenched his muscles.

„I..."

„Let get me something straight." - Ceres interrupted him - „I don't care about that girl. I don't care about your relationship. But I want you to understand one thing. People don't leave you because they hate you, people leave you because you hate them. You abuse them, you kill them and you threaten them. And that is the reason."

Adam for a second was sure he was going to slap her, to teach her her place, but suddenly he realized one of her pupils was gone.

„What, are you going to mess with my head again, you dirty addict?" - Adam laughed, but Ceres was not impressed by that hateful remark and completely ignored it.

„Get your ass in the car, Adam."

* * *

As for someone clearly not sober, Ceres was driving surprisingly carefully.

„I'm high most of the time, I really got used to doing ordinary things that way." - she explained - „But no way in hell I'm letting you do the same."

„I don't drink alcohol. And I don't do drugs." - Adam replied, watching changing landscape. They drove out of the city and forest and now they were in the fields.

„Where are we going?" - he asked - „I think it's about time you explained some things to me."

„Do you remember the Fall of Beacon?" - Ceres inquired suddenly.

„Yes I do."

„You know, when Cinder and her people attacked Beacon, I was there. One of the elder students was my plug in Vale."

Adam was silent.

„But to my grief, the kid got attacked by a Grimm and died. And I was in the middle of a fight I didn't understand. And my semblance..."

„You turned someone crazy." - he interrupted her. She slowed the car and drove into sideaway.

„I turned _you_ crazy." - Ceres admitted - „It's not like you were sane before. But I altered you thoughts to Blake so much you were no longer a leader to the White Fang. You became an angry ex-boyfriend. And I when I heard about your _new politics_ in the White Fang I immidiately understood it was me who made you this way. And I decided to follow you and wait for the opportunity to reverse that effect."

Adam hid his face in his hands and started to think.

„But since I cannot control Altering, I cannot reverse it. And by the time I realized that, you got yourself into a fight with Blake and Raven's girl. And because your mind was clouded, you lost and almost got killed."

Adam was sitting in silence processing information. Ceres opened the door and got out of the car. She lighted a cigarette and dragged on smoke. That was it. Because of her Faunus lost one of their most effective forces against humans. And Adam almost lost his life.

He was not the first person she twisted beyond comprehension, but she made a decision he would be the last.

* * *

They made it just before midnight. Ceres parked the car next to a beautiful blossoming magnolia bush. Adam waited a while before he left the car.

The building seemed a little too big for two people. It was made of dark brown wood and had green shutters. The house looked well-groomed, but Adam could feel a sense of loneliness from it.

„You live here?" - he asked as she was getting her case from the trunk.

„I do." - Ceres said and sat down on the stairs, lighting a cigarette - „We will be staying here until the kids are secured in Atlas and everyone believes you are dead."

„And then you give me my weapon back?"

Ceres sighed and reached her hand to him. She moved her fingers and something started to appear between them.

Wilt and Blush.

Adam rushed to get it, but it disappeared again.

 _I hate her._

„Where do you keep it?" - he asked with resignation in his voice - „Is that trick a part of your semblance too?"

„It isn't." - Ceres extinguished the cig - „I told you I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

„It's about goddamn time I got some real answers. I now know why you had saved me, but why the hell would you take me here?"

Ceres frowned.

„Looks like you lost a couple of brain cells along with that sword of yours." - she said - „Where would you go? Rhetorical question, I know you would start chasing that poor girl again. And you would get your stupid ass killed, but this time _for real._ "

„And why do you try to save me from death _so_ _fiercely_?" - Adam replied with a question. The amount of tension between them was unbearable and he wasn't sure which one of them will attack another first.

Ceres stood up.

„You _are_ staying here until your goal becomes clear to you once again. You were supposed to save the Faunus, not kill them."

„My goal..."

„I'm taking the blame and please don't get in my way when I try to fix my mistake. And you could fix a couple of yours, too."

Adam put his hands on his hips.

„For example?"

„For example remove this ridiculous thing from your face; I want to see your eyes."

Adam took a step back, but seeing her face made him realize she wants to see his face even _with_ that terrible scar acroos it.

With pain Adam remembered how Blake turned her face away when she saw his mark. Ceres seemed not to give a single flying fuck about it. Her face was showing no disgust.

„I'm sorry for what has happened to you." - she said in a soft, quiet voice and approached him, reaching her hand slowly to his face - „I can take away the pain in your mind."


	5. The cry of a lost one

Chapter 5

The cry of a lost one

Adam's eyes started to become wet a little. Ceres smiled with honesty and moved her hand to his hair and took his cap away.

„The dye on your hair will disappear in a couple of days." - she said kindly.

„Why are you doing all of these things to me, I'm a monster!" - Adam yelled, grabbed her shoulders and knocked her to the ground - „And I can kill you any moment I want!"

„But you do not want to kill me."

Ceres did not look surprised. She was looking straight at him, not amused in any way. She was a brave person, familiar with insanity and madmen never scared her.

Or she was just stupid, guilt-driven girl without a sense of self preservation.

„And what if I wanted?" - he asked in a calm voice. His face was dangerously close to Ceres'.

„If you wanted I would sense that from a mile. You can never lie to me, Adam, for I always know the truth of your mind. Now please get off of me. You're too close."

But instead of getting away, he pulled himself closer to her and restricted her moves.

And he regretted it immediately, because for next couple of seconds he got trapped in _that freaking dust mine again, and oh my God he was only five and that thing was burning-_

Ceres released herself, smoothed her light pink skirt from the dirt and set food on Adam's neck. His vision stopped.

„You better listen when someone tells you to leave them alone." - Ceres said - „You are a victim and I pity you, but I won't hesitate to make your mind replay the worst memories of yours over and over again for the rest of your life if you do that again."

* * *

The next days merged into one for Adam. Ceres was not talking much, she was spending most of her time in her room doing drugs. She was barely eating, but she had no problem cooking for Adam.

„It prevents me from being poisoned by you." - she said one day.

„I actually never saw you eating." - Adam replied.

„The Dust I do is removing my appetite but I try to eat something every day." - Ceres sat down the chair on the other side of the table with coffee.

„How long have you been doing drugs?" - he asked out of pure curiosity. She looked at him in the eyes and replied in her normal voice.

„Close to ten years now. I started when I was like fourteen."

„Did you start doing this because of your semblance?"

„Not really." - her muscles tensed - „I have had no idea of my semblance then."

Ceres took a sip of her coffee.

„I'm going to get some groceries. Wanna go with me? There's a small town behind the woods." - she asked. Adam blinked in astonishment. She had never let him go outside the household. She kept saying it was dangerous for both of Adam and the town citizens.

„Do you trust me?" - he inquired, taking a sip of his tea - „You must be trusting me if you want to take me to the town."

„I don't trust you in the slightest." - she answered - „And don't take my kindness as weakness."

„I never saw you carry any weapon; do you have one?"

„I don't need one." - Ceres said - „Besides, I can't fight. I never learned, because my semblance works both on humans and Grimm."

„You can alter Grimm's thoughts?" - Adam seemed really interested - „How do you do it?"

Another sip of coffee.

„Grimm think in a different way humans and animals do. Their thoughts are drowned in negative emotions and they are filled with desire to destroy. I alter their emotions toward themselves."

„You turn them suicidal." - Adam was startled - „It's amazing!"

Taurus was freaking sure she blushed a little.

* * *

Adam was never really into ordinary life and it was showing. Both of them wasn't used to do shopping, mostly because Adam used to steal and during his time in White Fang it was others' job to provide him with supplies. In turn, Ceres used to steal mostly money using her semblance (was it really a stealth if they were giving it to her themselves?) and the thing she had in her throat predominately was Dust that dissolved in her nose anyway.

„Do I look like I'm sky high?" - she asked when they were omitting vegetable aisle.

„Absolutely not." - Adam replied - „I mean, I can see it anyway, so..."

„Shut up." - she sighed a bit and took a couple of dairy products.

„I'm lactose intolerant." - Adam pointed.

„These aren't for you." - she answered - „I can barely eat something else than yogurts."

Forty minutes later they were again next to a blue, four-wheeled car.

„Are you sure nobody will go to the police?" - asked Adam looking around - „You stole it."

„Previous owner of this baby was really happy to hand it to me. You think too much."

„Do I really have to wear this bizarre cap?" - Adam touched his head.

She chuckled.

„Look over there." - Ceres pointed her hand in a direction of a street lamp. Adam followed her fingers and saw his very face on a poster saying _WANTED_.

„Okay, I get it now." - he murmured and got into the car.

* * *

Adam Taurus was bored as hell. He even did the dishes. Ceres just woke up and was having her morning coffee.

„I'm bored." - he said, sitting in a chair - „You took me here; entertain me."

He noticed a small mirror on the table alongside the bank account cards. By a quick look, these weren't Ceres'.

„Go read a book." - she replied.

„I have read every book in this house." - he yawned.

„Do you want to fight?" - Ceres asked suddenly - „I watched your fight with the girls and I noticed something I found weird."

„What?"

„Why do you need your weapon to use your semblance?"

Adam's eyes opened wider.

 _She noticed._

He wasn't going to answer and she knew that.

„It's okay. It's not like I understand my semblance either."

Adam bit his lower lip.

„I noticed something about you too." - he said. She blinked. - „I noticed sometime when you are sober, coming down, your pupils don't disappear. Of course most of the time you need to intoxicate yourself to prevent them from doing this thus activating your semblance, but I have seen how it doesn't activate even if you are sober."

She sat in silence, looking the mirror with Dust leftovers.

„Your semblance isn't _always on._ I think it activates randomly when your mind is unstable, which is most of the time."

She laughed and relaxed her muscles. Ceres took a sip of her beverage and smiled with pain in her eyes.

„I'm impressed you noticed this. I'm mentally ill, Adam. I'm delusional and my illness took control over my semblance."


	6. The facts and the feelings

Chapter 6

The facts and the feelings

Adam was not seeing Ceres for another couple of days. She has even stopped cooking. Taurus would never admit this to himself, but he was feeling lonely.

 _I'm mentally ill, Adam._

 _mentally ill_

 _delusional_

„ _You're delusional!"_

Adam snapped out of his thoughts and scratched his scar. He could look at himself in the mirror now. He still remembered how Ceres didn't _look away like Blake did._

Maybe this was it. Maybe he wasn't supposed to save the Faunus.

„You cannot save them before you save yourself. You are incapable of it."

Adam turned back quickly and saw Ceres at the top of the stairs. The girl reached her hand to him, again did this thing with her fingers and his weapon started to appear in her hand. She looked at it and had thrown Wilt and Blush to Adam.

„You're free to go. Avoid Menagerie and bigger towns in both Vale and Mistral." - Ceres said and waved her goodbye at him. She smiled and turned back.

„It was good to meet you." - she whispered to herself before going back to her room.

Once again, she was alone.

* * *

Adam reached the Edola river the next day. The small town of Edom was placed on two shores of it and it had its charm. Taurus decided to stay there for a couple of days and then decide where he wants to go next.

He had the money Ceres stole for him so he could pay for the night. He was now eating dinner in a hotel bar, small and disgusting place.

„Yeah _,_ we're still looking for him." - the man next table answered his scroll - "We're gonna find him, I promise, sir."

Adam's muscles tensed a little. The man closed the scroll and returned to talking with his companion.

"How are things?" - the companion asked. He had a mark of White Fang on his coat.

"Ghira says he doesn't believe Adam Taurus is dead. But man, how possibly he could be alive? Miss Blake told us she _stabbed_ him _twice."_

"I don't know. Do you have some of this Atlesian stuff?" - asked the man with visible mark of White Fang.

Adam frowned behind his blindfold. Drugs in the White Fang?

"I have a customer tonight and I hope to get laid, so no, I don't have anything to sell." - the man replied.

"You won't get laid in the following century!" - the other White Fang member laughed - "What kind of girl would like to go to bed with you?"

* * *

Ceres was lying on the couch practicing that one spell with appearing and disappearing things when the doorbell rang.

„Hello boys." - she said, inviting them to the living room. She had a mirror and cards prepared. - „Do you have it?"

„We do." - the taller man replied, throwing a little plastic bag at the table. She gave him two banknotes and proceeded to crushing it.

„You want some?" - she asked.

„You know I don't do drugs." - he answered - „Enjoy."

She took one of the banknotes from her wallet and rolled it. The girl pulled her hair aside and snorted the pink powder. It hurt in her nose, but she sniffed the whole line.

And something weird happened.

First, she felt a wave of warmth coming through her fragile, addicted body. Her pupils widened when the drug kicked in. The dealer and his friend sat on the other couch.

„You know, I always thought you were cute with that red flower in your hair. What kind of flower is it?" - asked the dealer - „How's the stuff?"

Ceres stretched herself.

„It's perfect. And it's a kirilla. They bloom only once in ten years and the flower doesn't die for next decade." - she answered. Something was slightly wrong in her head; the dealer now was sitting next to her. And to her surprise, she had nothing against it. The man was taller than her and had brown hair. She had known him for six months by now and she wasn't sure what was he doing.

The man proceeded to touch her face and suddenly everything went red and black and half of the room was devastated.

The man's hand was lying on the floor, still bleeding.

* * *

„I should have known better than to leave you alone, you stupid, crazy girl."

Adam's voice was clear and composed. He had his blindfold on. He wanted to say something more, but the scream of the other guy pierced his ears. Ceres was slowly closing her eyes. Adam rushed to catch her before she fell down the floor.

„Quiet." - Adam growled in his exasperation - „What kind of Dust have you given her?

The smaller guy was trembling in fear.

„I asked you a question."

Adam rose his sword and without words he threatened the man with chopping his head off.

„It was some new kind of stuff, she must have overdosed it!" - the man cried - „Please don't kill me!"

Adam looked down upon him.

„Take that disgrace to Faunus and disappear from my eyes." - he said, hiding the sword - „Before I change my mind."

* * *

Ceres was not waking up for next six hours. Adam tried to lower her fever, but her brain was slowly boiling in neurotransmitters. When she finally woke up Adam sighed.

„Congratulations you dumb bitch, you almost killed yourself." - he said, helping her take a sip of cold water.

„Did you kill them?"

Adam was silent.

„Oh my gods you did kill..."

„I didn't." - Adam interrupted her angrily - „But I will kill you the next time I see you with powder up your nose. And by the way, who is Vesta?"

„I am Vesta. My name is Ceres Vesta." - she replied, cackling - „I told you can go."

„You cannot save me before you save yourself. And now you are incapable of saving yourself. So I decided to stay with you."

„It doesn't suit your psychopathic self." - she murmured - „You're out of character."

„Let's say my mind is still clouded, but I was supposed to die and you saved me. Now you're supposed to die and I'll save you. Even if you're a human." - Adam replied and once again handed her a glass of water - „You need to drink a lot to get rid of that stuff in your veins."

„I need a fix. Give me my Dust one list time." - Ceres groaned with pain - „I cannot stop thinking about getting a fix."

Adam's face twisted with anger.

„No more fixes for you. I got rid of any Dust in this house. And you're not going anywhere."

He stopped Ceres from getting up forcefully. She was as angry as he was.

„It's dangerous for _both_ of us! I _need_ the fix!"

He reached out to his pocket and pulled a small jar with tablets inside.

„These are antipsychotics. I took them from the guy."

Ceres looked at him with fear in her eyes. She was scared and hopeless and Adam knew he could do anything to her because she was so weak…

But he didn't. That felt weird to him. He, of all people, was taking care of a human and he _enjoyed_ it.


	7. Delusions

Chapter 7

Delusions

The day was rainy. The droplets were hitting the glass and windowsills and it was so calm everywhere and to Adam it felt almost annoying. He wasn't used to it at all.

Adam wrapped up a breakfast for himself and Ceres (God forbid anyone to actually say that out loud) and now he was slowly chewing on a sandwich. He could hear Ceres getting ready for the day and five minutes later she joined him in the kitchen.

„How are we feeling today?" - he asked, not averting eyes from a newspaper.

„Like shit, thanks for asking." - she murmured - „I would actually prefer you caring less so I could get a freaking fix. What got into your head, pouring all that _terrible_ ideas of taking care of me?"

He ignored her.

„How is your semblance?"

„It's off." - she admitted although she was not very happy about it. It was ruining her plans of getting some stuff up her nose.

„Told you the pills would help you."

„Please just leave." - she said, slowly pouring onto the chair - „I would like you to leave very much, thanks."

„You were the one to bring me here, stop complaining."

He was right and she hated him for that.

„I give you the opportunity to leave your old life and that's how I'm being treated." - Adam sighed.

„Did you give up your old life, Adam?" - she replied with mean eyes and he blinked seeing her malice.

„I did. I did choose you over my old life. Part of me really died when Blake and Yang stabbed me. I guess that was the part that you twisted." - he replied and her eyes widened – „With the current state of White Fang and the fact that I am a wanted criminal staying here with you doesn't seem like a bad idea to me."

„I've seen you in action, Adam. I will never believe you care about me. I've seen your choices and the results of them." - said Ceres, slowly drinking her coffee.

„My choices were mine and mine alone. If you judge me from results of my choices please notice that the fact that you're still alive and not a _raped corpse_ is a result of my choice to get back to you."

„You're crazy."

Ceres clenched her hand on the coffee mug.

„I suppose I messed with your mind again and I'm sorry for that." - she spat out of her mouth - „Please could you go back to your old self where you actually tried to kill me?"

„I'm sorry to tell you it's impossible. I have made my choices."

„You chose to play _a caring boyfriend_ now? Well it's better than _abusive boyfriend_ , I guess."

He was not amused and his face was telling he was serious.

„I loved Blake more than anything but I was not able to love her the way I should have. I won't say I wasn't abusive because I was. But I wasn't playing."

Ceres was angry, but she sat in silence.

„I understand you are anxious because of the withdrawal, but please stop doing this." - he asked quietly - „It won't help any of us."

* * *

She was covered in cold sweat again. Her head was killing her. She popped two more antipsychotics and tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. Her old friend insomnia was back.

It has stopped raining. Ceres sighed again and put her coat on. The blue car was still next to magnolia bush where they used to park it.

 _She could take the car, drive to Edom and…_

And Adam fucking Taurus was sitting on the porch, casually smoking a cigarette.

„I would never think you smoked."

„Because I haven't. Started recently. Can't sleep?" - he asked, offering her one of his cigs.

„Yeah."

They sat in silence for a while.

„I'm sorry for what I said. Thank you for taking care of me." - she whispered in shame.

„You know kirellias grow up only in Atlas?" - he asked abruptly.

„I'm Atlesian." - she admitted quietly.

„Me too." - Adam said.

„I have always hated that place. I ran away when I was fourteen. I couldn't live in a place that Schnee Dust Company ruled alongside the military."

„Why?"

Ceres dragged on a cigarette.

„I had a best friend. Her name was Lana and she was a Faunus. They took her, burned her face and three months later she died in a Dust mine. They told me it was an accident."

Adam touched his scar.

„How old was she?"

„Twelve. After that I ran away to Anima through Argus military base."

Adam stopped looking at her for a moment. Ceres once again let smoke out of her lungs.

„It's useless. I cannot stop thinking about the pain in my nose, I cannot sleep, please, Adam, let it go and let me be me." - she said almost crying – „Let me go. I've been using drugs for ten goddamn years. A freaking decade. There is no way I will stop now."

„Stop it. It's not you talking, it's your addiction." - Adam interrupted her with anger in his voice - „You let it consume you and it's killing you. What makes you think I want to see you slowly kill yourself?"

„You are a _killer_ , Adam, killing people is what you do!" - Ceres passionately extinguished her cigarette – „You think I don't know what you did to Sienna Khan? You hurt and kill people for your own reasons, I kill myself with drugs because that way I don't hurt anyone!"

„Now you're trying to manipulate me; don't think I can't see my own tactics when somebody tries to use them on me. You snort that shit because you're addicted, not because you're such a noble person."

Adam got up.

„Besides, it's good to know I'm only a _killer_ to you."

* * *

Ceres was sober for two weeks and she was sure she _hated_ that. Now she could focus her thoughts on something other than that goddamn _fix,_ but reading a book was still in her area of dreams. Adam was not talking much to her; she understood why and she wasn't really proud of what she said to him. She liked the way he was handling the White Fang thing, but she never really thought they would _live_ together, because no matter what he did for the Faunus, he was still tainted with blood of his victims.

Ceres closed herself in her room and covered herself in blankets. She still had cold shivers running through her body.

And then, she came up with an idea.

* * *

Adam took the car keys, but she really didn't want to take car and drive to get her fix. Adam would stop her in a blink of an eye, so she thought of something else.

The four-wheeled car had a trunk. And in the trunk Ceres found what she was looking for.

A wheel cleaner.

She took half-empty bottle to her room, carefully enough not to alarm Adam. In her bathroom she mixed the liquid with a couple of other things , including some strong painkillers Adam hasn't found before and after heating the mixture a little bit on a little spoon she was ready. She gulped as she waited for the liquid to lose some of its heat.

Trembling, but ready she tore off a piece of cigarette filter and dragged the liquid through it into a syringe. She wasn't sure whether she still can shoot up after all these years, but she was determined to do it.

And if she calculated everything right, Adam would _never_ know.

Ceres used a shoelace to tighten it around her arm until her veins appeared. A little pinch and she was now pressing the plunger of the syringe with excitement, waiting for that _beautiful_ rush.

* * *

Ceres could clearly state that Adam was not angry. He was disappointed, worried and sad, but not angry.

And she could not understand how Adam was not angry.

„I didn't think you would shoot up. What the hell was that?" - he asked her when she finally gained the ability to form words.

„A little chemistry." - she replied, greedily drinking cold water he prepared for her - „Wheel cleaner mixed with painkillers that are based on medical Dust can work miracles."

„I hope you are happy for what you did."

In fact, she was not. Now when she was sober, she felt ashamed, humiliated and embarrassed. Adam took off the things that she was wearing on her arms – something between a sleeve and a glove – and he could clearly see her pale arms, covered in scars and track marks.

„I thought you were snorting only." - he said.

„It's almost impossible to abuse drugs for ten years and never shoot up." - Ceres admitted quietly - „I stopped shooting up when my veins got inflamed and I got cotton fever. I almost died, because where I was there were no doctors or paramedics."

Ceres' eyes started to wet a little. She had a severe headache and she could not stop blaming herself for the situation she was in.

„This has to stop, Ceres." - Adam spoke suddenly - „And I think I just found a way."


	8. Pain

Chapter 8

Pain

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm hundred percent serious. Hurt me."

Ceres put her hand on her hips.

"Adam, what is the point of me learning how to fight if my semblance..."

Adam interrupted her.

"You cannot control Altering and I'm sure you can't use it when you're on meds. So, please, attack me."

So Ceres tried. She tried to punch him, kick him and even slap him. Adam blocked all of her attacks without effort.

"This is not about making you an assassin." - he told her later - "It's about learning control over yourself."

Adam forced her to fight for two hours. In two hours she managed to actually reach him only once. The good thing was she was so exhausted she didn't put up a fight when he forced her to eat.

"You're gonna need a weapon." - said Adam, drinking his juice - "What would you like to fight with?"

"I _don't_ need a weapon," - she replied - "I just need to unlock my semblance again."

Adam sighed.

"Look, Ceres. It's not always good to show off your semblance to every enemy you fight. You need something that would help you channel your Aura to use Altering more effectively."

"A sword?" - she asked reluctantly.

Adam smiled a little.

"You never told me how and where were you hiding my weapon. I couldn't find it anywhere."

Now she was even more reluctant.

"I can't tell you, I made a promise to someone I would never..."

"From our experience we can safely say some promises are better off not kept." - Adam interrupted her feeling a bitter taste in his mouth. His mind immediately reminded him of Blake.

Ceres was silent for a moment, processing everything.

"Are you familiar with cults?" - she asked him. Adam blinked.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ceres breathed heavily.

"I told you about how Lana was taken by SDC. I never told you where she was taken from."

She embraced her arms.

"We were raised by an Atlesian cult. They were worshiping some kind of god. Every day we would pray to the god to make Atlas a better place to live. We had something holy to pray to – a golden petal. That petal was everything we had."

Adam listened to her carefully.

"We had a high priestess, too. She was guarding the petal with her immense power. And one day I sneaked up to the temple and tried to steal the petal. The moment I touched it..."

Ceres looked down and raised her hand to the air. She opened her fingers and something cracked in the air. A little balls of colorful flames shot from under her fingertips.

"I could do _this._ " - she said quietly - "Of course, the priestess found me in a second. But she wasn't angry. She taught me how to use it. She told me it was _magic."_

"What happened to the petal?" - Adam asked.

"It turned gray and disappeared. Soon enough the cult was found by Atlesian military and wiped out. The high priestess was nowhere to be found."

Ceres drank the rest of her juice.

"But...that magic took a toll on me. It started to break my mind slowly. First it was the feeling of fear. Then it turned into my memories being tangled. Then..."

"The delusions." - he finished her sentence. Ceres nodded.

"The priestess told me the petal should have killed me, because humans are not supposed to use magic anymore. But it didn't."

Adam saw how painful these memories were to her. He stood up, put the dishes in the sink and came to her. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

They were working out everyday in the morning and in the evening. Ceres was exhausted, but Adam was pressing her to not give up their routine.

Sometimes he was lending her his sword to teach her how to use it properly. Sometimes he was telling her to attack him with magic. She was good at using her techniques against him, but he could tell she was in desperate need of weapon. Her attacks were unstable and she missed a lot of targets Adam made out of cans.

"I think I have found a weapon just for you." - Adam said someday. Ceres almost choked on her food.

"What?"

"There's an old abandoned temple in the woods. It's small and closed, but I've heard about a weapon hidden there."

"Are you asking me to go with you to desecrate a temple? What part of "I was raised by a cult" you didn't understand?"

Adam cackled.

"You know, since your eyes are in different colors I never know which eye I should be looking at."

"Pick up _one_." - Ceres said looking resigned.

"Nobody prays in that temple either way." - Adam shrugged his arms - "It's abandoned."

"You really have no idea of correct social behaviors." - Ceres blinked - "Normal people do not desecrate temples and steal from them!"

"You stole the petal." - Adam said and Ceres blinked again. Once again, Adam was right.

* * *

Ceres should have known better than to let Adam handle the locks. He just insolently destroyed the lock with his sword and in theatrical manner invited her into the ruins.

"I hate you." - she murmured, accepting the invitation.

The ruins were cold and dark. It reminded Ceres of ancient ruins filled with traps awaiting the thieves she once saw in an old book. She snapped her fingers and small ball of light appeared next to her.

"If you scare me here I'm going to kill you." - said Ceres, going downstairs. She was barefoot and it was freezing cold down there.

"Are you afraid of darkness?" - he asked her. Ceres averted her eyes to him. Adam stopped wearing his blindfold a couple weeks before (or a couple days before, the girl was not entirely sure, the thing was he was not wearing it anymore). She got used to seeing his scar, and he wasn't uncomfortable showing it to her.

"I'm not." - she replied.

After a few minutes they reached the bottom of the temple. It was small indeed. There was a lonely tomb in the center of the hall. Something was reflecting light of Ceres' magic.

"What is it?" - she asked, blinking to see better. Adam came closer to the tomb and took the shiny thing.

"This, my dear Ceres, is a khakkara." - Adam said, giving the staff to her, but she was looking at something else.

"Adam, look." - she said, pointing at the wall - "It's the emblem of her. It was the symbol of our cult."

"I thought your cult was located in Atlas."

"It was." - she nodded - "I think it's a temple of believers that escaped Atlas."

"And you had no idea your temple was there?"

"I was too high most of the time to even go to the woods." - she admitted with embarrassment - "I had no idea someone escaped Atlas beside me."

"I think it is you of all people who should have it." - Adam handed the staff to her once again. On the top there was small emblem of high priestess. The metal was cold and it had beautiful gold color.

"How did you even find this place?" - Ceres asked.

"I found clues in some of your books when I had no better thing to do than reading." - he admitted, helping her make a step through broken staircase.

"Do you have a name for it?" - he asked when they were in a car again. Ceres found out she can fold the staff, making it smaller and more comfortable to carry.

"I have no idea." - she sighed and turned left, driving out of the woods.

"I may have a suggestion."

She turned her sight to Adam for a moment. He looked really relaxed. In fact, he was even smiling a little. He still resembled the Adam she found dying in a river in his pale complexion, beautiful turquoise color of the eye and his scar across his face that was the proof what humans did to him, but he seemed a little more sane than then. He was once again calm and composed.

"What is it?"

" _Planetaria."_ \- Adam replied, looking at her in the eyes - "It goes well with your name."

Ceres thought for a while.

"It's a really nice name. The more I think of it the more I like it."

"I'm glad you like it."

* * *

Next morning they clashed with their weapons for the first time. Ceres was good in her defense, but Adam managed to cut her a couple of times.

"It's not fair your weapon can negate Aura!" - she said resentfully and moved her fingers above the injury, letting the magic heal it.

"It's not fair you can use magic." - he replied - "Is this how you healed my wounds by the river?"

"Yeah, it's the same spell. It reverses space in reference to time. So I didn't heal you, I reversed your body to the time when it wasn't hurt. It's probably the strongest of my spells." - she admitted - "I'm not very powerful with my magic, though."

Adam attacked her, but she blocked his sword with gold rings of her khakkara and twisted it, so he had to let go of his weapon. Adam's sword hit the ground.

"Good!" - he said. It could be seen his pride was blooming.

Ceres sat on the big rock, all covered in sweat.

"Do you still want to go back to sniffing powder?" - he asked all of a sudden.

Ceres averted her eyes to look at him.

"I do." - she admitted - "I still cannot stop thinking about Dust, about the rushes when I was doing it intravenously, about the pain in my nose. But my mind is more clear now."

"I know what you mean. Each day I think about what I was doing the past months and I can't stop thinking what mess I've done." - Adam sighed.

"Is it a small pinch of remorse I hear?" - she cackled. His muscles tensed a bit.

"I regret going after Blake. It brought me only pain." - Adam admitted - "But now my mind is more perspicuous than ever. And I'm not going to meet her ever again."

"You went after her because of me." - she said sounding a little ashamed - "Until we met at Beacon your mind was exactly where it was supposed to be. What do you want to do after you leave me?"

Adam blinked, shocked a little.

"What makes you think I would leave you?"

Now the one who was the most shocked was Ceres.

"I mean… you're a free spirit, Adam. And you want to make humans pay, don't you? That's why I think you're gonna leave me. Besides, you don't even like me. And I don't like you."

"Now that's a nice delusion you have here." - Adam pointed his sword to her throat. She trembled in shock.

"By no means I'm going to leave you. You forced me to respect you; something that no one ever did. That's right, I do not like you. But I do respect you."

He took his sword away and reached his hand to Ceres.

"You're cooking today."


	9. Magic of planets

Chapter 9

Magic of planets

Ceres cleaned Planetaria with a wet cloth. She used magic to carve her emblem in place of the emblem of high priestess. She never really put it on anything and the owner of the staff was nowhere to be found so she thought the priestess won't be angry.

She was probably dead.

Ceres took one of Adam's belts and used it to carry her new weapon around. He seemed not to really notice that piece of his clothing was missing.

Not to her surprise, Adam was missing too.

He told her he's going to Edom to grab some groceries, but it's been almost four hours and Ceres started to worry, though she would never admit it.

She went outside of the house and looked at the horizon. The blue car was nowhere to be seen. And in a blink of an eye, she got hit by something very heavy and lost her consciousness.

* * *

"Adam fucking Taurus doing groceries."

Men in the basement burst out laughing. Adam's face was covered in blood and he thanked gods he thought of putting his blindfold on. He was really not comfortable showing off his scar to anyone besides Ceres.

"Adam fucking Taurus minding his own business." - Adam replied - "I would very much appreciate if you could just let me go."

Suddenly the door to the basement opened and three men came in. One of them was holding unconscious, dark-pink haired girl.

"This is the bitch that was helping him." - said the man and threw her on the floor. Ceres groaned in pain and started to open her eyes.

"We're taking both to Menagerie."

Adam hissed. They took him by surprise, and now they had both him and Ceres.

"Why bother with taking them to Ghira if we can just chop off their heads and report mission completed?" - asked the young boy with the White Fang emblem on his shirt - "We can take his sword as a proof we killed him."

Adam sat in silence. The ropes were restricting his moves and they've taken his weapon.

"Adam!" - Ceres finally woke up completely - "What is going on here?!"

He cackled.

"These are White Fang members and they're going to kill us for peace of all world." - he said. The girl blinked.

"And how exactly did you let them capture you, you useless goat?"

"I'm a bull Faunus. Bull. Not goat. Not at all."

"Silence!" - the man looking the oldest kicked Adam in the chest. Adam lost his breath for a moment.

"Adam!"

"I'm fine." - Adam replied, spitting blood.

"No, you're not!"

The men came to Ceres and the youngest boy kicked her in the stomach.

"The leader told you to shut up." - he said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." - Adam said and the boy looked at him furiously. He kicked Ceres a couple of times again.

"There she goes." - murmured Adam and when the boy tried to kick her body again, she looked at him with flames of anger in her eyes and her pupils disappeared.

The boy screamed in pain. Ceres spat blood out of her mouth, and the rope on her hands started to undo itself.

"Everybody ready for a one way trip to their personal hell?" - she asked with fury.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that. You're way more cruel than me."

"Shut up and let me patch you up."

Adam looked over catatonic bodies of members of White Fang.

"How long they are going to stay like this?" - he asked, rubbing the blood on his cheek.

"Probably forever." - she shrugged her arms - "How did you know my semblance was going to unlock itself?"

"You don't take physical pain very good." - he replied, taking a step over the body of the young boy.

"We need to get out of here. If they found my house, gods know what they know." - she said angrily - "And I liked that house very much."

Adam looked at her.

"Where are we going now?"

"I don't know." - she shrugged her arms again - "And I'm not going to wait until more of them come for us."

"You've become a wanted criminal, miss Vesta." - Adam laughed - "How do you feel about it?"

"I'm not very familiar with the feeling." - she answered - "But I know someone who can help us."

* * *

"Absolutely very not, thank you, go away." - said Raven Branwen putting down the cup of tea - "I'm not going to help you, Ceres, and I can't believe you took him with you."

"But Raven, please. They can't sniff us out if we stick to you." - said the girl - "And they have no idea we know each other."

"I would like very much _to not_ know you."

Adam sat in silence just as Ceres told him to. He was supposed not to say a word and he managed to do it pretty good.

"But you do and you're gonna help us." - Ceres said. Raven stood up.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because we're your best chances against Salem." - Adam broke his promise and spoke - "If you help us, we will help you protect your people from her."

Raven sat down again and took her cup of tea.

"You know my people wouldn't like to hang around him." - she pointed her finger at Adam.

"I take Adam as my responsibility. Give us a tent and we won't trouble you." - Ceres replied.

Raven sighed.

"You may stay."

* * *

Raven was watching them and they both knew that, but none of them mentioned it. They clashed their weapons and Ceres blocked another one of Adam's attacks.

"How long do you know her?" - he asked, blocking her staff. Ceres jumped over him and attacked again.

"I dunno, a couple of years. I have stolen from her and she kicked my ass." - Ceres admitted - "Then I saved her ass and here we are now."

"Are you two friends?" - Adam pushed his sword against Planetaria. Ceres caught his hand and jumped again, landing behind him and pressing the staff's blade against his neck.

"More like acquaintances. I like her brother Qrow more." - Ceres took her weapon away from Adam's neck - "But they're not getting along well."

Ceres sat on the ground and accepted a bottle of water Adam gave her.

"Can I have a request for you?" - she asked him suddenly.

"I don't know; can you?"

Ceres sighed.

"There are a couple of drug dealers here. I want you to not let me interact with tribe members. The scent of Dust alone makes me crazy."

"Now you're asking me to be _abusive boyfriend_ again." - he cackled - "But the next time I see you snorting or shooting up Dust I'm going to beat the shit out of you."

"Fair enough." - she sighed - "Thank you, Adam."

And she could swear Adam blushed a little.

* * *

Raven was not sleeping well that night. She came out of her tent and inhaled the cold air of the night. She could not admit it to herself, but she missed Vernal a lot.

"You know she was happy to die for you."

Raven turned back and saw Ceres with that bagged eyes of hers.

"I told you never to mess with my mind _again._ "

"I'm not. I just sense it."

Raven sat down on the ground. Ceres did the same thing next to her.

"What is exactly your relationship with Adam Taurus?" - Raven asked.

The younger girl sat in thoughtfulness. That was a very good question to ask.

"We hang around together." - she answered - "There isn't much more to it, really."

"I noticed you're sober. It's weird."

"It's weird to me too; I haven't been sober for this long for years. " - Ceres admitted, sighing - "Adam would kill me if I tried to do drugs again."

"What do you mean by that? Do you want to tell me that Adam fucking Taurus _cares_ about you?" - Raven chuckled - "You are crazy."

"I am. And I'm not saying he cares about me. But he _thinks_ of me enough to care about my addiction."

Raven averted her eyes to the sky.

"You and your creepy semblance."


	10. Alone

Chapter 10

Alone

People were avoiding Adam and he was very aware of that. The only person who seemed to enjoy his company was Ceres and she was nowhere to be found.

"She better not be snorting again." - he murmured, polishing his blade.

"She's not."

Raven suddenly was standing in front of him with hands on her hips.

"She went to take care of Grimm in the north of our camp." - she added - "And I'm keeping an eye on you when she's gone and it's a real pain in the ass."

"I cut off Yang's arm." - he said suddenly - "Now you have perfect opportunity to kill me."

Raven chuckled.

"Ceres told me the story. I don't have to punish you for my daughter did it already."

"I aimed to kill her and I don't miss with my sword. I saw a bird for a second though."

"That's none of your business. You failed to kill her and that's all that matters to me."

"I won't fail next time she tries to kill me." - Adam warned.

"It's her business. I couldn't care less." - Raven replied - "I just don't want you to cause trouble in my camp."

"I'm just sitting here minding my own business, as always."

"Do you still work for Salem?" - Raven asked, slowly placing her hand on her weapon. Adam couldn't not notice it.

"I work with Ceres if that's what you mean. And I don't care about Salem as long as I'm with her."

"You really _do_ care about her."

Adam cackled.

"I don't need to care about her to stay with her. She proved me a lot of times she can take care of herself. She doesn't need me to care about her."

Ceres used her space-reverting spell to heal herself and stabbed the last Grimm with lower end of her khakkara. She was sweating a lot, but she was also proud of herself. For the first time in years.

She got rid out of her clothes and jumped into the lake. Cold water washed off her exhaustion. She was still having cold sweats that made her remember the horrors of her addiction. She was still addicted and she knew that. Her addiction made her steal, lie and humiliate herself. And that humiliation could never be washed off by the waters of the lake.

But now with Adam to guard her she had an opportunity to really stop using. Nobody ever cared enough for her to really make her question her illness. She had been running in circles of her own hell for so many years she could never think of letting the drugs go.

She was still taking meds Adam gave her, but she was slowly running out of them and she was scared what would happen without the tablets.

She was not able to function without putting chemicals in her body and she hated herself for that. She had many reasons to hate herself, but that was the biggest. Dust, pills and more pills. Her whole life was based on chemical substances.

"You look like you are severely depressed; do you need antidepressants on the menu?" - Adam cackled. Ceres turned back to him.

"That is not funny." - she said angrily - "Turn around!"

"It's not like I've never seen you naked." - Adam shrugged his arms, but did as he was told to.

"Please let me keep my basic human decency I just recently got back."

Ceres got out of water and started to dry herself with a small towel.

"Do you keep that towel in the same place you were keeping my weapon in? Because I've never seen you carry it around."

"Yes I do." - Ceres sighed and put her clothes back on - "You can turn around now. What are you doing here?"

"I went out looking for you. I thought Raven's gonna kill me anytime."

She laughed.

"You _chopped off_ her daughter's arm for gods' sake."

"I would never suspect Raven of caring about Yang."

Ceres stretched her body and sat down on the ground. She took a sip of water from the bottle Adam gave her.

"She does care. She just cares about her in her own, a little twisted way."

"Parents." - Adam cackled - "Family."

"Do you have any family?" - Ceres asked and averted her eyes to Adam. He was quite tall.

"Not that I know of. What about you?"

"Kinda popular story. Dead parents, orphanage, the Faunus took me in. Until, you know, the wipe." - she replied - "Classical story of a child from lower parts of Atlas."

"I always hated that place."

"I'm never going back there." - she shrugged her arms - "Not even Salem is going to force me to do that."

Adam sat next to her.

"Ceres, together we can have everything we want. Why won't we just go and take what's ours?"

She looked at him.

"Because I don't want _everything,_ Adam. I want a little."

"I don't understand that, Ceres, how..."

"Just because you _can_ do something doesn't necessarily mean you _should._ That is the difference between you and me, Adam. I can understand I shouldn't do things. "

"And how does your addiction fit that way of thinking? Because I'm goddamn sure it doesn't."

Ceres blinked and slightly moved away from him.

"Adam…."

"So this is it. That is what kind of hypocritical person you are."

She stood up in anger.

"Don't you dare to insult me for what I am and for what I'm trying to be!"

Adam stood up too.

"Why not? Why can't you see what you are missing? Because you are missing a whole point, Ceres! Together we can..."

The girl clenched her hand on her weapon.

"It is you who don't see! It is you who desire power too much! Why can't just take a little bit of the things you can have instead of destroying everything you _cannot have?!"_

Adam drew his sword and pointed at her. Ceres was careful enough to avoid his attack.

"Now you're doing it again! You want to force me to accept your way of thinking that is destroying us both!" - she screamed, jumping behind him and trying to defend herself - "And that is why Blake left you! This is why everyone leaves you!"

Adam attacked her furiously, aiming at her stomach, but she blocked his sword with Planetaria.

"How dare you say something like that! I loved her!" - he screamed, unlocking his semblance towards Ceres, but she was quick enough to avoid it.

"You just almost killed me, Adam!" - Ceres yelled, once again defending herself - "Are you aware of what are you doing now?! You could have killed me with that attack! Me, of all people!"

He stopped for a moment, panting. When Ceres finally thought she spoke to him with reason, he attacked her again.

"Maybe you should be dead, instead of making a fool out of me!" - he screamed. Ceres blinked in shock. She blocked two next attacks, but the third reached her and now she was bleeding from her arm.

"Adam, do you hear yourself?! Stop for a moment!"

Ceres barely avoid decapitation and casted a spell on her body to reverse the wound.

"And I believed you were my friend!" - Adam screamed, aiming at her stomach again. He was so full of anger and fury Ceres couldn't believe it.

"I am you friend you stupid goat idiot!" - she screamed, throwing away her weapon - "If you want to kill me, kill me now!"

And he fucking did it. He attacked her when she was unarmed. But to his surprise, his sword landed on the ground. Ceres wasn't there.

"I made you believe I was standing there." - she said and then she burst into tears - "You were trying to kill me. You wanted to kill me."

And upon hearing her cry, Adam let his sword out of his hands and realized what he had almost done.

"Ceres, I..."

"Do not fucking dare to come near me." - she said, pointing her weapon at him - "Or I'll turn you into catatonic vegetable."

"Ceres, please..."

She was crying out loud.

"I should have known better. You're a monster and you'll never change."


	11. Humans and monsters

Chapter 11

Humans and monsters

"Portal me the fuck out of here." - Ceres asked, wiping away her tears. Raven's face was showing a little bit of caring, but not too much, so she wouldn't lose her charm.

"The only portal I can make right now will take you to Taiyang and no way in hell I'm having Adam Taurus looking for you at his place."

"Then portal me to Qrow."

Raven crossed her arms.

"I won't. Adam will come here to look for you and I'm not risking him going rampage in my camp. You stay here until we make sure he's gone. Then I'll portal you out of here."

Raven noticed Ceres' hands were shaking.

"Did you take your meds today?"

"I didn't." - Ceres calmed her arms - "I'm not staying here. I'm sorry Raven, you can portal to me if you need my help, but I'm taking my car and leaving."

Raven sighed.

"Okay. Just don't do anything stupid."

* * *

Yeah, buying four bags of Dust – two sedating, two stimulating – was no doubt stupid and Ceres couldn't argue with that.

But she was alone and she was finding it very hard to cope with her life in healthy ways. So she crushed the Dust and snorted it right away.

She was not sure where she should go. She had the car, she could go everywhere she wanted. But right now Ceres wasn't sure if she really wants to go anywhere.

She dissolved some of the sedative in tap water, filtered it and proceeded to inject it into veins in her left arm. Sweet rush swallowed her and Ceres threw herself on the hotel bed, embracing the warm feeling of the drug.

The Dust took Adam away from her thoughts. And she was eternally grateful for that. It was so painful, saddening and distressing to think about him. About his red hair, those funny horns and about the water he used to give to her.

But Adam hasn't changed a bit. He was still abusive, he was still a toxic piece of shit. And it didn't matter for her what he has done for her. He tried to kill her. She felt it in his mind. He aimed to kill. He trampled their life. He trampled every warm feeling she had about him.

* * *

Adam was wandering through the forest, fighting his own mind. He was fighting the slow realization of truth and of what he had done.

Ceres, of all people, has left him and it was _his_ fault. And judging by how firm she was about it, she wasn't going to accept Adam in her life anymore.

He really did not learn anything from his relationship with Blake. He destroyed his relationship with Ceres the same way.

" _I am your friend you stupid goat idiot!"_

Well, there was one thing Adam learned. Not to go after Ceres. She made it very clear she does not wish to see him again.

And once again, he was alone.

* * *

Ceres woke up devastated. She was completely naked in some kind of junkie den and next to her a couple of people were lying on the floor.

"That was one hell of a party, I can't remember shit." - she said to herself and started to look for her clothes.

One of the bodies, as Ceres noticed, was particularly cold. She checked the pulse and there was none.

"Well shit." - she hissed and kicked the other body. The second body was warm enough to be alive, but judging by lack of reaction it wasn't going to wake up either way.

Ceres tried to find her scroll but after a couple of minutes it became clear to her it was stolen. She took the scroll that belonged to someone on the floor and checked the date. Six freaking days. She was partying for six days straight and she couldn't remember a thing.

She formed a line from Dust leftovers and snorted it. After a moment her mind become clear again. She took a bag of Dust out of someone's pocket, stole someone's coat and left the den.

It was a cold morning. She realized she was starving so she bought a cinnamon roll in a bakery using some stolen money. Her stomach was squeezed from hunger.

She trembled in sudden realization she was in Miva again.

"So partying and _traveling_ , huh?"

She had no idea where her car was and she was too weak to steal again, so she just slowly chewed on her roll thinking what she was supposed to do now. She had one bag of Dust, no car and a little money. She knew she can't fight the world in the state she was now. The other thing she knew she couldn't stay in Miva because of the guy that took _a bit_ too much and was now a rather disgusting corpse.

It was not the first time she woke up next to dead bodies. It was quite common among sedative users to overdose and die.

Ceres directed her steps to parking lot. She had really nowhere to go and if she wanted to go somewhere she needed a drive.

"Excuse me, sir." - she gently asked her victim, and when the man turned around, her pupils disappeared - "Could I have your car keys?"

The man blinked.

"Of course, I should have thought about it earlier." - the man said, handing her his keys.

"Thank you." - she replied and quickly altered his mind to not remembering her face. The man blinked a couple of times and left.

Ceres got into the dark-green car and drove out of the parking lot. She decided to go back to her old house – that was the only thing she had left.

* * *

Adam was hiding in an abandoned factory. He could not risk being found by White Fang members. They surely had found their catatonic friends.

" _You were trying to kill me. You **wanted** to kill me."_

"No, I didn't." - he cried to himself but he already knew she knew the truth of his mind. And the truth was he _wanted_ to kill her and Adam couldn't face it. But he slowly started to realize what kind of person he was and it almost tore his heart apart. Ceres knew the truth and tried to stay with him and he had trampled everything.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to see her so desperately he stole a motorbike and headed straight to her home.

 _Their_ home.

He believed she's gonna be there. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell her. There were so many things he should have done and so many things he shouldn't have. Adam took his blindfold off and drove straight to _their_ place.

But by the time he got there, she wasn't there anymore.


	12. Monsters and humans

Chapter 12

Monsters and humans

 _In loving memory of Adam Taurus who died at the end of Volume 3._

Ceres Vesta was in a cold, dark place. She was lying on a floor with her hands restricted. She noticed a needle up her arm. Something was being pumped into her veins. The thing was making her mind cloudy, and her consciousness was going on and off. She managed to realize she was on some kind of airship, but her eyes were blindfolded.

She was being taken.

Thanks to Ceres' years of developing her drug addiction, the chemical that was being pumped into her veins was getting less ans less effective. She managed to rip the needle out of her arm. She panted and tried to undo her restraints, but it seemed like they were put on her a couple of days ago and she was too weak to revert space in reference to so much time.

She pressed her head into the wall to get rid of her blindfold and she realized that in fact she was aboard an airship. She also realized she was too weak to activate her semblance. Ceres' body was full of chemicals and she wasn't sure whether she was really awake or not.

Ceres averted her eyes when the door opened and she could recognize her drug dealer from Edom.

"Hello sweetie." - he said and she almost chuckled seeing him without his arm - "Missed me?"

"Missed your arm?"

The Faunus slapped her furiously.

"I want the location of Adam Taurus. I know you're screwing each other."

"We haven't been _screwing each other_ for weeks. Adam tried to kill me."

The man burst out laughing.

"I can believe that. So, where do you think he can be now? Maybe he came back to your house?"

"I _seriously_ doubt that." - she spat the words out of her mouth - "He wasn't there, was he?"

"We left some...hints for him at your house, so he can come and look for you."

Ceres cackled.

"You mean 'we devastated your house', don't you? And what makes you think Adam will come for me? I know him better than you and I'm goddamn sure he _won't._ "

"You underestimate your worth to him." - the man pointed at what was left of his arm.

"So we're heading to Menagerie? To Ghira Belladonna?"

The man laughed and kicked her in the stomach.

"Don't be silly, we wouldn't take a human to Menagerie."

* * *

Adam sliced through open field in fury. Thanks gods he was sane enough not to unleash his anger at the house. Ceres would not forgive him that after what White Fang did to the mansion.

The shutters were no longer part of the windows. The magnolia bush was gone. So were the doors. The glass in the windows was broken. On the porch there was a White Fang symbol carved into the wood.

And Ceres was gone. And he had no idea where they would take her. It was obvious for him they wouldn't go to Menagerie with her. Mostly because Ghira Belladonna wasn't approving such drastic measures.

Adam put his blindfold on again and started his motorbike. He came up with an idea where he should start.

* * *

The White Fang base in Vacuo was located in the middle of the kingdom, seven hours away from Edom. Adam stopped only once to refill the gas. It was middle of the night when he made it there. He parked the drive and didn't bother with knocking. He destroyed the door with single movement and stopped the Faunus inside.

"You are going to let me in." - Adam said, grabbing the boy's shirt - "And you're going to take me to your leader."

"A-Adam Taurus… - the boy whispered and took two steps behind.

"I won't hurt you. Just take me to the person that is in charge here."

"I am."

Adam pushed the boy out of harm's way and absorbed the attack through Wilt and Blush.

The person attacking Adam was a middle-aged man with a scar across his face. He wasn't as tall as Adam was, and Taurus couldn't help the feeling the leader was compensating something, judging by the size of his weapon.

"You took someone from me. I demand the girl back." - stated Adam, pointing his sword at the leader.

"So now you're interested in screwing a junkie instead of leader's daughter?" - the man laughed.

"I'm interested in having Ceres back. Bring her to me."

The man blinked.

"The girl is not here. My people were told to take her on the ship. We knew you'd follow her here." - the leader cackled - "You were fast."

Adam attacked him two more times. Only one move got stopped, but the man wasn't really a match for Adam. Once he got his clear mind back, he could fight with all his skills. And there was no one in White Fang who could match him.

"Bring Ceres to me." - Adam asked calmly, stepping on leader's weapon. He was about to cut the man one more time when he heard a noise. Something enormous fell to the ground outside.

It was an airship. Adam hid his weapon and ran outside. In remains of something that certainly was a flying machine once he spotted something _pink._

"Let me help you." - he said, removing the trash above Ceres. She blinked twice in endless confusion and sat on her arse.

"This is it; I'm hallucinating." - she murmured - "Adam fucking Taurus is saving me. Now I'm in desperate need of medication."

Adam chuckled.

"I'm real. This is not a hallucination."

And in a second he had Planetaria pointed at his neck. Ceres was in rage.

"I told you to stay the fuck away from me!"

Adam was not trying to fight back. He knelt on one knee right in front of her. She sensed something strange going on in his mind.

"I apologize to you. I truly am sorry for what I've done and for what I've said. I was..."

"You were an absolute asshole!" - she screamed. Adam did not expect that. - "You were a disgrace to everything that has ever stepped on earth!"

"I can't argue with that." - he sighed, standing up. He removed his blindfold to let her look at him in the eyes.

"Adam, they…!" - she squeaked.

"Let them see it." - he said quietly - "What happened?"

They both looked at the wreck.

"It was their fault!" - she stated, crossing her arms - "They pumped into my veins something that made my semblance go crazy! I swear I didn't want..."

"It doesn't matter to me." - he said dryly and grabbed her arm. She groaned in pain. - "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"You did hurt me more times than once!" - she hissed - "What the hell were you thinking?! Killing me?!"

Adam lowered his head in shame.

"Let's go back." - Ceres said with a sigh - "Just...let's go back."

"Ceres, I can't." - Adam averted his eyes to see hers - "I can't go back with you."

The girl's eyes widened.

"Adam, what do you…."

"I can't stand what White Fang does here." - he admitted, pointing his finger at the shipwreck - "I'm going to fight my lead in Vacuo branch."

"You're a leader." - she said kindly.

"I'm sorry, Ceres."

"Don't be." - she shook her head - "It's okay. I knew this day would happen. You were never meant to live in a calm house with a magnolia bush."

He looked at her with gratitude in his eyes. Adam touched her face and hair. It was silky and he was surprised he never saw it that way.

"But you once said you're never going to leave me. You left me once, and now you're leaving me the second time. And that is something I will never forgive you."

"Ceres..."

"That is why I'm staying with you." - Ceres said. Adam took a step back.

"You're doing _what?"_

* * *

Thank you for reading! This is the end of Tale of Dust Volume 1. I'm gonna start posting Volume 2 as soon as I finish it.


End file.
